Thursday night time’s outing was undoubtedly painful for the Denver Broncos. On the verge of claiming a playoff spot, the group suffered a 34-27 loss by the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers. Denver did not capitalize on a halftime lead, as a quiet second half resulted in a come-from-behind victory for his or her foes. This, in flip, marked a change within the AFC West standings. Regardless of each groups holding 9-6 data, the Chargers’ win now places them in second place whereas the Broncos slip all the way down to quantity three.
In fact, it is not the tip of the world but for Sean Payton’s squad; They nonetheless have an 84% likelihood of creating the postseason, per NFL.com. Nonetheless, the highway forward will not be any simpler. Subsequent week, they’re going to be going through a Cincinnati Bengals group that — albeit holding a dropping report — boasts the league’s greatest passing offense. Transfer additional forward and the Broncos shut out their common season with a sport in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. No additional rationalization wanted.
Going again, how dangerous was Denver’s Thursday efficiency, precisely? The remainder of the article will discuss it intimately, so with out additional ado, listed below are the culprits for the Broncos’ Week 16 loss.
Sloppy second-half play — offense
There actually is not one individual in charge for the Broncos’ second-half collapse. It is like the whole group someway misplaced steam. Within the first half, Denver had three consecutive 70-yard drives and three touchdowns. That they had no bother shifting the chains, because the utilization of a number of working backs and environment friendly passing from Bo Nix sparked the new begin. Rookie Audric Estime ran for the primary landing whereas Nix discovered Michael Burton and Devaughn Vele for the subsequent two, respectively.
Within the closing two quarters, nonetheless, the Broncos struggled to advance the ball and by no means discovered the endzone. The run sport they established early on disappeared, and the group needed to accept area objectives as their solely supply of factors. The truth is, one might even deduce that the downhill tumble started late within the second quarter. The Broncos led 21-10 with lower than a minute remaining earlier than halftime however they went three-and-out, and a penalty within the ensuing punt resulted in a 57-yard fair-catch kick that Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker transformed.
The Broncos scored a area purpose early within the third quarter to carry the lead again as much as 11, nevertheless it would not be sufficient. Their subsequent three drives resulted in punts, with the group going three-and-out (but once more) in two of the stated drives. On the similar time, the Chargers gained traction, finally taking and rising the lead with a 15-point fourth quarter. All in all, 5 of Denver’s final seven drives resulted in punts.
Sloppy second-half play — protection
The protection would not get a cross right here both. For a group who entered Week 16 permitting simply 17.6 opponent factors per sport, the Broncos uncharacteristically gave up virtually double that quantity on Thursday. They appeared locked in at first, managing an interception — a career-first from rookie Kris Abrams-Draine — and holding the Chargers to only one landing by way of LA’s first 5 possessions.
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That every one modified within the second half, significantly within the fourth quarter, when Justin Herbert’s heroics ensued because of lapses in protection. The missed tackles on Gus Edwards and Hassan Haskins throughout LA’s second-to-the-last drive did not assist both, because the landing in that possession gave the Chargers a 10-point cushion with 2:27 remaining.
Penalties
The fair-catch interference that led to Dicker’s kick was simply one in every of seven whole penalties that the Broncos had. Via the Chargers’ first two drives of the second half — drives that ended up in touchdowns, by the best way — a number of pricey penalties have been known as on Denver. On offense, the Broncos’ O-line dedicated false begins plus an offensive holding penalty as nicely.
It is best to finish on a constructive observe right here. Perhaps Week 16’s three-day preparation interval took its toll on the group. In any case, their earlier sport in opposition to the Indianapolis Colts occurred simply final Sunday. Transferring ahead, the Broncos now have greater than sufficient time to regroup for his or her conflict in opposition to the Bengals, which commences on December 28.